Summary of “Spend More Time Alone”

Two were actually titled Solitude, while the third, and most recently published, was titled Lead Yourself First – which is pitched as a leadership guide, but is actually a meditation on the value of being alone with your thoughts. Lesson #1: The right way to define “Solitude” is as a subjective state in which you’re isolated from input from other minds. It’s time for your mind to be alone with your mind – regardless of what’s going on around you. Lesson #2: Regular doses of solitude are crucial for the effective and resilient functioning of your brain. Spending time isolated from other minds is what allows you to process and regulate complex emotions. If you avoid time alone with your brain your mental life will be much more fragile and much less productive. Not all types of deep work satisfy this definition of solitude, as it’s possible to deeply react to inputs from other minds, such as when you’re trying to make sense of a tough piece of writing or lock into a complicated lecture. Deep thinking is time spent alone with your mind, and as such it’s just one of many different flavors of solitude – all of which aid human flourishing.